Trails, Views, and Accessibility

Trails and Views

The top of Cranberry Meadow

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Three and a half miles of beautiful trails criss-cross through the meadows and forests of the Lathrop community. The trails are one of Lathrop’s great attractions but to many if not most of the residents they are inaccessible.

The trails take users to Lathrop’s most cherished sites such as Addison’s Oak, Bassett Brook, and vistas from the top of meadows. These views are inaccessible to many residents; 47% of survey respondents indicated they would not feel comfortable walking on grassy hills or woodland trails, and trails to these destinations have these conditions. This leaves a large portion of the Lathrop community unable to access many of the most scenic parts of the property. Lathrop owns an all-terrain-vehicle (ATV) which residents can occasionally use to explore the WideWoods Trail or any of the meadow trails.

Meadow trails must be mowed regularly to remain walkable. During three site visits no other trail users were observed, and tall grasses had filled in some trails. Some parts of the trail network may be redundant; for example, in the Mid-Woods and Mulberry Meadows trails are maintained both around the perimeter and through the middle of the field. While the trail network is a great asset for Lathrop, it is possibly too much for Lathrop staff to maintain.

Addison’s Oak

Cranberry vegetated island

Looking out from the benches in front of the Inn Nearly all of the survey respondents said they would like more sitting and gathering areas on campus. Many residents are limited by their mobility, so proximity and access via level pavement or grass is a high priority for these areas.

A general assessment of proximity and slopes is shown above. The areas in light green are currently open and have slopes under 5%; the yellow ring indicates a 500- foot distance from the Inn; the red ring indicates a 1000-foot distance. The western edge of Bassett Brook Drive, the Wide-Woods Trail entrance, several small spaces around the Inn, vegetated islands, and Rose Field all fit within the slopes and proximity criteria and have the potential to be improved for outdoor gathering.

Currently, the western edge of Bassett Brook Drive and Wide Woods entrance are open lawn. This area is fairly quiet, but it will likely become busier as a road to the new development and a construction of a new maintenance shed bring more traffic. Near the main east entrance of the Inn is an already popular sitting area, but the main view is of the parking lot. Behind the Inn is a quiet spot overlooking the wetland, which is accessible from the outdoors via a gentle slope or from the Inn via a door exiting the exercise room. Vegetated islands and common lawn space within townhome clusters may also hold potential gathering spaces. The Teaberry residents have already commissioned a design from Abound Design for their vegetated island to include seating and shade. Rose Field is a large space with great potential for outdoor gathering; however, a small hill with a 15% slope currently makes access difficult for many residents.